


Daylight

by moonlight_roses



Category: Burn Notice
Genre: Angst, Emotional Sex, Emotions, Explicit Sexual Content, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rating: M, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 02:47:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20400412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight_roses/pseuds/moonlight_roses
Summary: For many years Sam has been Michael's best friend, but it has always been so much more than that. Maybe, with everything that has happened in Miami, it's time to stop pretending that it isn't everything.





	Daylight

**Author's Note:**

> With the beginning of this story set somewhere in Season 5, it contains spoilers for everything that follows. Some events remain according to the series, others differ.

“What’s going on, Sam?“

Well, that was the question, wasn’t it.

Sam sighed quietly.

“You’re smart, Mikey. You already know.”

And Sam was sure Michael did. It did surprise him somewhat that he was actually confronting him then, having expected this to take a little longer. But, well, why not now. His bottle of beer was almost empty anyway.

“What do you want from me, Sam?”

“Yeah, why bother with small talk”, Sam mumbled and sighed once again. “What I want, huh? Don’t you already know that, too?”

“Sam…”

He looked up then, not really expecting the ex-spy to look at him, especially not _that_ way. “This might be selfish”, Sam heard himself say, “but I can’t go on like this.”

“I figured as much.”

“I can’t help but see you die instead of Nate.” Sam did not miss Michael’s slight flinch. “I can’t help but think that we’re wasting our time here. I’m tired of that. It’s not like I’ll not help you anymore, or won’t answer your calls, but… it’s not enough. You want to know what I want?”

“Sam…”

“I want more.”

Sam forced himself to some deep breaths, barely able to keep his eyes trained on Michael. Now that it was out, now that his intentions were out, all he could do was wait. And he hated waiting.

“I can’t…”

“Yes. You can.”

“Sam, this isn’t that easy. I’m still unprotected. I’m still…”

“Which is my whole point”, Sam whispered, knowing just where Michael was going with this. “I could lose you next week, or tomorrow. And I don’t want to lose you and know that all this time we could have actually have _had_ something, instead of ignoring each other.”

Michael was motionless, didn’t even seem to breathe, Sam thought. He quickly finished his beer and stood up. “Now you know, so I’m going. Can’t say I wouldn’t appreciate it if you called me.”

And with that he left, heart beating hard and fast, almost wishing Michael would stop him, but that was not how the younger man worked.

Sam knew he’d be happy if they’d speak at all in the near future.

He knew what Mike was trying, calling him in for help in a case so soon. And help he did, it wasn’t like he hadn’t promised, but Sam also knew that he had to follow this through.

So, at the post-case celebration, when Michael and Fi arrived and sat with him and Jesse, the ex-Navy SEAL put some money on the table and stood.

“Sam, what…?”

“Gotta go”, he cut in on Fi, trying to ignore the dark look in Michael’s eyes.

“You’re not staying for Mojitos?” Jesse asked, rather funnily disbelieving.

“No, thanks.”

Michael was suspiciously silent, and Sam almost hated leaving him alone then, but he just couldn’t act like everything was alright.

“Sam”, Michael said the moment he picked up the phone. “We need to talk.”

“If this is about another job…”

“It isn’t.” A long moment of silence. “Can you come to the loft?”

“Alright.”

“So, you’re serious.”

Sam lifted one eyebrow and slowly closed the door behind him. “That’s what I said.”

“I don’t know how to do this.” Michael watched him walk closer, standing behind the kitchen counter.

“Neither do I”, Sam admitted.

“You’re much more practiced.” Michael’s words nearly threw him off, but Sam understood how this worked. He knew Michael, after all.

“Not with someone I’m actually in love with”, he breathed, voice barely audible. “I’ve been waiting for this for half a lifetime, after all.”

There was a flicker in Michael’s eyes that made his knees go weak, knowing he’d finally gotten his point across. Everything so far had been a test, trying to figure him out, but Sam recognized surprise when he saw it, and this wasn’t faked.

“Sam…”

“I’m not backing off again”, he cut in on the other man. “So, can we do this now?”

“I’m still not good at this.” And this time Sam felt like he’d won the lottery.

“No need to sound this defeated”, Sam tried to quip, but knew he was failing. For a moment he thought about retreating for one more time, but deep down he knew it wouldn’t change anything. “So, you thought about my proposition?”

The smallest smile ghosted over Michael’s face. “I’d hardly call it that.”

“What would you call it, then?”

Sam wasn’t sure what to do, after that. Getting closer might spook Mike, but just staying where he was wouldn’t really help either.

“Sam, just tell me what you want.”

“Michael, this isn’t just about me. I mean, I might or might not be wrong about this, but I’m kind of assuming you’re still feeling something for me here, too…”

“I am, Sam.”

His heart did a leap at that, not because of the words, but for that soft edge to Mike’s voice. “What’s so hard about this, then?”

“My life, maybe. The constant danger.”

“Michael Westen, we have that any day anyway”, Sam almost growled. “Whether we’re just friends or something more, it doesn’t matter. And I’m not leaving you. So, let me be straightforward here. I might not be as good and fit as I used to be when we first met, but I still feel the same as then.”

“Sam…”

“I love you, Michael Westen.” Nothing changed in Michael, not even to the trained eye, not even to Sam. His silence, though, was telling him enough and finally the ex-Navy SEAL moved closer, slowly stepping behind the counter. “And I’m not taking that back again.”

Dark blue eyes closed for a moment longer than necessary before finally looking up at Sam, gaze as intense as it could be. “Wouldn’t expect you to.”

“See, Mikey, this is getting somewhere”, Sam joked half-heartedly.

“And where would that be?”

“Well, last time we talked about this, you disappeared for a few years before resurfacing here in Miami, half-dead. Hopefully anywhere but there?”

“I don’t plan on disappearing.”

“Now that I like to hear. What do you plan on?” Sam knew this game, knew how this worked. This wasn’t a talk about the future, Mike was buying time. “You don’t have to play games here, Michael. Just tell me to go, I’ll go.”

Michael averted his eyes then, staring down at the counter in front of him. “Why… why are you doing this, Sam?”

“I told you.”

“Why now?”

That question made Sam pause, not sure if he should really go through with this that night. He didn’t want to spook Michael any more than he already had, which was pretty damn much.

“It’s not like I didn’t think about doing this sooner”, he said slowly, also trying to buy some time. “There was always a reason not to, always something going on with your burn notice, or a job, or something else.”   


“There still is.” Michael looked up at him again. “I… I don’t know what changed. I don’t get it.”

And this was when Sam really understood it. Without thinking about it he lifted his left hand and placed it over Michael’s that was lying on the counter, thumb gently stroking along the underside of his wrist. “Nothing about the circumstances has changed. Nothing about my feelings has changed. It’s just… I guess maybe I have changed. I’m tired of waiting for something that’s never going to come, that famous right moment. I’m tired of waiting for you when you’re right here.”

Michael was staring at their hands, not moving a muscle even to breathe. He was becoming awfully good at that… Sam let him, just holding onto him and waiting.

“Say… say we do… this”, Michael voiced quietly, still not looking up at him. “What about…?”

“No”, Sam interrupted him, stepping closer. “No, Michael, you don’t get to do that. It was never a problem before, so don’t try and make it into one now.”

“What if it is? What if it becomes a problem?”

“Like what? Do you really think I haven’t been in a situation where I was scared out of my mind for you? And yet it always worked out before. We’re a team, Michael, you, Fi, Jesse and me. And these feelings have always been there, but we handle it.”

For a moment Michael’s lips turned into a thin line – frustration, Sam recognized, for slowly running out of arguments. It almost made him smile.

“Michael…” A quick, almost shy glance from these gorgeous eyes and Sam found himself stepping even closer, his hand on Michael’s slowly wandering up his arm and to his shoulder. “What are we gonna do now?”

“You tell me.” The words were said coolly, but Sam didn’t miss the slight hesitance in his voice.

It was all he needed to let his fingers glide along the side of Michael’s neck, the barest of touch, but more than enough to startle the other man. Sam watched the frown as it scurried across his face before Michael finally looked at him again.

Man, he’d never thought this the-world-is-slowing-down-kinda-crap was true, just some Hollywood thought up crap, but damn, Sam could definitely admit that he’d been wrong. For once, Michael’s eyes were as expressive as they could be, and he couldn’t say the sight didn’t do anything for him.

“Tell me I’m not reading this wrong”, Sam said softly, even if all he wanted was to lean in closer. “Tell me…”

“You’re not”, Michael replied, voice just barely audible. “It’s just…”

“You have your doubts. So do I. But I… I can’t watch you risk your life on a daily basis and know what we’re missing.”

  
“What are we missing, Sam?” Michael asked. “Sex?”

Sam felt his lips curl into a half-felt smile. Smug bastard. “You’re not diverting this in that direction, Mikey”, he whispered, “though you won’t hear me say anything against that.”

A soft chuckle left Michael’s throat and he turned to face Sam directly, back straightening and somehow converting both seriousness and amusement. “Okay. Fine. We talk seriously.”

“Nice of you to catch up, I’ve been serious ever since I told you I wanted more.”

“I know”, Michael whispered almost apologetically. “I’m just… not good at this.”

“No, you’re not”, Sam agreed easily. He was acutely aware of his hand still resting on Michael’s shoulder, and after a little more thought he shifted it slightly to the back of his neck. “I might kiss you.”

He was admittedly surprised when Michael stayed silent at that, but he wouldn’t look a gifted horse in the mouth. Without as much as a warning Sam stepped closer, dangerously so if he wasn’t reading Michael correctly.

The hand that was suddenly just there on his left hip, touch soft and gentle, yet sure and, well, just a _little_ too low, made Sam swallow against a very dry mouth. Their eyes were still locked, and with his hand on Mike’s neck it would take so very little effort to…

Just when he was about to make a move because God, he really wanted to kiss Mike, both of them noticed the sound of multiple steps on the stairs outside the loft. Sam immediately recognized Fi’s and Jesse’s voices and he made to move away, reluctant to ruin the moment, but it…

Michael grabbed his hand just as he lifted it from his shoulder, causing Sam to go completely stiff.

“Mike”, he said, trying to take a step back and get some distance between them because, seriously, this scene would tell Fi and Jesse so much more than they needed to know right then, and Michael had to have heard… 

With his dark blue eyes still fixed on his, Michael just had to lift one eyebrow at him to get Sam to stare at him, suspecting but not really believing that he was reading Mike correctly. Fi and Jesse were almost at the door - which he definitely hadn’t locked - when Michael lifted Sam’s hand back to his neck, the hand on his hip pulling the older man just that little bit too close again.

“Michael”, Fi announced the moment she pushed the door open, “we need to talk about Sam. Wasn’t this weird, him leaving just as we…”

In the corner of his eye Sam saw her turn around and freeze the moment she saw them – who could blame her. Jesse on the other hand was still talking, for now, but he didn’t really hear him. All he saw were those damn beautiful eyes sparkling with both amusement and something else that was driving Sam insane.

Then there was silence.

Sam’s heart was beating quickly with knowing that Fi and Jesse _knew_, but much more with the knowledge that Michael wanted it this way.

“Uh guys”, Jesse finally disrupted the somewhat tense silence, “are we…?”

“Yes, you’re interrupting”, Michael answered, voice as clear and strong as if he wasn’t standing way too close to one of his best friends in the most compromising way possible. “Get out. And lock the door while you’re at it.”

Sam swallowed, finally accepting the look in the man’s eyes for the desire that it was, and nodded. “Yeah, get out”, he added - _also_ accepting the fact that his voice sounded anything but strong and definitely like he was standing way too close to a very hot guy.

It took a long moment, but just as the lock of the door turned – from the outside, thankfully - Michael moved towards him, completely stunning Sam as he captured his lips in a hot, yet gentle kiss. With a most undignified sound somewhere between a moan and a whimper the ex-Navy SEAL returned it as good as he got, absolutely not believing it was happening.

“Mike”, he gasped into the other man’s mouth, trying to ignore the hand wandering up and down his lower back. “Michael.”

“Sam.”

“Are you trying to distract me with sex?” Bluntness, Sam had learned, got him furthest with the ex-spy. He quickly caught the wrist of the hand that was not actively driving him insane, stopping Michael from opening his shirt.

When a dark look was all he got, Sam sighed and rolled his eyes. “Why, Michael?”

“Sam, this isn’t about to work. This isn’t…”

“Tell me you don’t love me back. Tell me you don’t want this. Tell me to go, and I will go. If you do love me back, if you do want this, though, give us a chance, damn it.” Sam stared at Michael. “I have never asked anything of you, am I right?”

Michael didn’t need to answer that.

“I’m asking now, Michael. After all this time, I think we’ve both proven to ourselves and to each other that we can trust each other and, more than anything else, that we can love each other and still work together. That’s not going to change, whether we sleep together or not. Nothing is going to change, other than that we might have more happy nights than before.”

“I can’t risk your life”, Michael nearly screamed, finally getting to what this was all about. He tore his hands away and stepped past Sam, making him miss his body already. “If anyone found out…”

“I don’t want to placate this, damn it. I don’t ask you to scream this to the heavens. Everyone knows we work together, everyone knows I’m a friend. They’d be after me, whether you let me just that little bit closer or not”, Sam outright screamed back. “Does this really feel like that much of a change?”

“After suppressing what I feel for you for that long, you’re fucking right, it does!”

Sam was stunned into silence, watching Michael run through his hair with both hands as he stepped up to the windows. He studiously stared outside, showing no sign of glancing back at Sam or anywhere near him any time soon.

Breathing deeply for a moment, Sam finally said with a quiet voice: “I am sorry to spring this on you like this, Michael.”

“Don’t be”, the other man replied much calmer than before. “It’s not like I didn’t see it coming for a while.”

“I can leave, if that’s what you want. We can talk later”, Sam offered even if leaving was the last thing he wanted. “But this isn’t you telling me you don’t want this, right?”

“Sam”, Michael said, sounding oddly defeated. “You’re an idiot if you think I don’t want this, don’t want you. I just spent so long thinking of you as just a friend, it’s a little hard changing that.”

“You don’t have to change that now or tomorrow”, Sam tried not to sound quite as relieved as he felt. “We don’t have to rush, we can just…”

“I want to sleep with you”, Michael interrupted him, though he was still staring at the windows. “It’s how much I want it that bothers me.”

Sam swallowed at that. “Now that’s some way to talk to a guy, Mikey”, he breathed, having every intention of ignoring just how hard and fast his heart was pumping in his chest.

And for the first time that night Michael did something Sam really had not expected – he laughed, softly, at his words. He turned his head then, looking over at where Sam was standing just a few meters away. “So, we’re doing this then, huh.”

“Fi and Jesse already know, we might as well follow through”, Sam replied, and winced when he realized how that had sounded. “Not, you know, having sex tonight, just…”

“Just becoming more than friends”, Michael finished for him as he turned around to stand there and watch him. “I get it.”

“Mike”, Sam started, but didn’t go on. He watched dark blue eyes almost anxiously, trying to figure out what Michael was thinking. To his relief the look in them softened considerably, becoming almost inviting until eventually Sam started walking slowly towards the other man.

“We need to work this out”, Michael said as he approached, “but you are right. You’re such a huge part in my life, not much is about to change.”

Sam wanted to say how much he enjoyed hearing Michael say that he was right, tease him about it, and under any other circumstance he would have done that. This moment, though, he was too captured by Mike and his appearance as he stepped up to him again, hand slowly reaching out for his.

He hesitated slightly, but then he entwined their fingers and gently pulled Michael closer. “Any other diversion you’d like to throw at me?”

“What would be the point?” came the truthful, if somewhat frustrated reply. “You’d just have an answer to that as well.”

“I can be like that, when I really want something.”

“And you really want me, Sam?” Michael stared at him. “You’re sure?”

Instead of answering right away, Sam moved in for a gentle touch of lips on lips. It was nothing like the kiss a few minutes ago, but since they weren’t playing games any more, it was all the more beautiful.

“I’m sure”, he mumbled against the unmoving younger man’s lips. “I know exactly what I want and, like I’ve told you before, I’m not taking this back. I want to be whatever you’ll let me be to you. You’re it for me, Michael. I can only hope I’ll die before you find someone better than me.”

“I don’t think anyone else would have waited for me as long, or have been as patient with me as you have, Sam”, Michael replied before leaning in, repeating the gentle gesture from Sam. “Give me some time to get used to this.”

“’Kay”, Sam mumbled, eyes closing to keep the flicker of hope hidden from the other man. “Want me to leave now?”

“Stay for a while”, Michael’s prompt answer was anything other than expected. “Please.”

Sam opened his eyes and stared at him, searching for a moment for the inevitable decoy he really feared, but only finding sincerity in Michael’s eyes. “You don’t have to ask.” For a long moment Michael just looked at him, seizing him up, and Sam just let him look. When his gaze travelled lower, though, to his lips, it was all he could do to keep his knees from giving out. “You don’t have to ask for that, either.”

With a crooked smile Michael leaned in, taking his lips in a kiss that was very different from before, making Sam realize that he was finally kissing the real Michael Westen.

It had taken long enough.


End file.
